


Nothing is Ever Simple

by crescent_gaia



Series: Strange Bedfellows [2]
Category: The Blacklist (TV)
Genre: M/M, Ressler is always getting hurt, spoilers and speculations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-26
Updated: 2014-03-26
Packaged: 2018-01-17 03:39:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1372558
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crescent_gaia/pseuds/crescent_gaia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Donald Ressler is having trouble sleeping and decides to go get sleeping pills at his local pharmacy.  Which is when the pharmacy is then held up, of course.</p><p>Spoilers for all of Blacklist so far, especially Anslo Garrick and Ivan.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Nothing is Ever Simple

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own _the Blacklist_ or any of its characters. Written for the hc_bingo on Livejournal for amnesty as a postage note bingo. Prompts are caught in a robbery, archaic medical treatment, deadline / time bomb, and mistaken identity.

Donald Ressler couldn’t sleep; it was as simple as that and nothing was helping. Well, nothing normal was helping, like drinking himself to sleep or exercising or anything else that was suggested. The nightmares would just keep coming. First it was just Audrey and watching her die when he was powerless to do nothing. Then it added on when he was going to die in the glass box with the man he loved trying to save him. The third one, the newest one, scared him the most. It was the “what if” that floated through his mind if he hadn’t opened the box. Of Liz being shot dead and then Red letting him bleed out before Anslo found a way to open the box. 

It was good that the last part was the “what if” and not the “what happened”. Either way, it was three in the morning and Ressler was wide awake due to what happened with their most recent Blacklister. He shot off an email to Director Cooper, taking a day off unless he was truly needed, and got changed into normal clothing. His hand stopped as it reached for his gun and he decided to take it and his badge. He grabbed his cell phone and keys next, debating on calling Red, but knew that Red would probably be dead asleep. Instead he locked the door behind him and walked a couple of blocks to the 24 hour pharmacy to get the over the counter sleep medicine that he swore he would never use unless it was necessary.

He entered the pharmacy and went to the aisle that he needed. On his way, he saw two men – twenty something, one was tall when the other one was short, both with black hats on their head – that seemed to be nervous. He decided to come back to the aisle he needed, moving to the aisle behind the two, looking like he was more interested in the cleaning products that were there. There were talking softly to each other before there was a soft chuckle and Ressler saw them move out of the aisle. He counted to five before moving as well to see what was going to happen next. He swore as he saw the pair go up to the cashier, their hats pulled down to show that the hats were really ski masks, and pull guns. 

“Open the cash register!” One of them yelled while the other moved to close and lock the front doors.

The employee behind the counter wasn’t stupid, doing what he was told, but Ressler saw a small movement to something beside the cash register. That action made him decide what to do next, drawing his own gun. “Federal agent, drop the gun!”

The one who locked the door did drop his gun while the one at the cash register turned and fired at Ressler. Even though Ressler moved, he swore as the bullet went into his bad leg and he went down. The one who dropped his gun picked it up again, moving over to Ressler and kicking Ressler’s gun away from him. “Mickey, you’re an idiot,” the one near Ressler said. “I told you this guy was a cop!”

“We’re still getting out with the cash, so shut your pie hole, Rickey,” the one at the cash register replied. “And he’s not a cop, he’s a federal agent, so you’re still wrong.” He turned to the employee at the register. “Hurry up!” 

The employee looked over at Ressler, starting to hurry up with getting the money into the bags. Ressler couldn’t blame him, mostly due to the fact that he was stupid not to move faster, but a part of him wouldn’t mind to just die in the line of duty. Even if that line came when he really just wanted to sleep. He lifted his head when he heard the police sirens and looked to the pair. Rickey, for the most part, looked nervous as his head moved around, while Mickey seemed calm and collected. “You could just go out the back,” Ressler said.

“Shut up,” Mickey said. “Go over to the agent and get him to stand up. We’re going to get out of this.”

 _In body bags_ Ressler thought as Rickey made his way over to him. “I’m going to bleed more if you try to move me. Let him talk and get me some gauze, pliers, and antiseptic. More gauze the better and do it fast.”

Rickey looked to Mickey, who nodded a yes, and Rickey took off fast. Mickey walked over to Ressler and kneeled down. “What’s a federal agent doing here anyways?”

“Sleeping pills,” Ressler said. “And then the two of you started acting suspicious.”

“Should have just left well enough alone,” Mickey said.

“I like my neighborhood too much,” Ressler replied. He moved to sit up more, pulling up his pant leg and hissing at the pain. With his luck, the bullet was still in his leg and all he could do was stare at it. It felt too much like past hurt, even though it wasn’t this bad this time around, but his mind and heart ached for the two people most familiar to him. He should have called one of them instead of coming out here and now he was paying the price for it. He blinked as Rickey put the supplies into his lap before going to work. He gritted his teeth and bit his tongue as he pulled the bullet out before wrapping as much gauze as he could to stop the bleeding. He hadn’t been paying full attention, but the employee was still probably behind the counter and Mickey was talking on the phone. He sighed and felt his cell phone start to buzz. Glancing over at the pair and that they were not noticing him, he slowly took out his mobile and saw that it was a text from Liz.

 **How many in there?** was her question.

Ressler glanced over at the pair, thankful they still weren’t noticing him, and texted back after turning off all sounds to his phone. **Two with guns. Employee behind the counter. I’m the only one injured.**

 **Story of your life** was Liz’s reply. It took everything in him not to smile or laugh at her statement. 

He started to text back when he saw Rickey turn to look at him, so he hid the cell phone behind him on the floor. “Anything good happening?”

“Seems like they like you, so they’re giving us a car out of here,” Rickey said. “Pretty nice of them.”

“Yeah,” Ressler said. “Guess I’m going with?”

“Nah, too risky,” Rickey replied. “Or so says Mickey.”

“Shut up,” Mickey growled at Rickey. “And they’ve got ten minutes to get it here or I’m going to shoot you in the head.”

Ressler nearly said that Mickey could and nobody would mind, but he looked away instead. Aside from knowing it wasn’t true, there was the fact that Audrey would want him to live. She’d want him to be happy, no matter who it was with, and she’d not want him to be stupid. He was about to be very stupid if he said what he was thinking, so he waited until he wasn’t being watched to text back to Liz. **Who’s giving the car?**

**Police are. There’s a tracker in the car.**

Ressler sighed at hearing that and hid the cell phone away again. It was five minutes later that the phone was ringing again and Mickey was talking to the person on the other end of the line. The car was here, considering that Mickey was sounding happy, and the pair made their way to the back of the store. As soon as they were past him, he took the chance to stand up, leaning on his good leg, and shot, hitting Mickey in the abdomen. Rickey turned to face him and he shot again, hitting Rickey in the leg. He looked behind him as he heard the breaking glass of the police coming in and he dropped his gun, raising his hands above his head.

“He’s the federal agent,” Liz said as she made her way over to Ressler. She picked up his gun and handed it back to him. “Couldn’t just let them get in the car?”

“Means they could get away,” Ressler said. “Want to get a coffee?”

“How badly is that bleeding?” Liz asked, looking down at his leg wound. “Let them check you over first and then we’ll get that coffee.”

“Yeah,” Ressler said as paramedics made their way over to him. He sat down on the gurney, letting them help with getting him fully on it. “How did you know?”

“Couldn’t sleep and wanted to talk to you,” Liz said. “I saw the flashing lights and felt like I should ask what was going on. They were happy when I showed up because it meant they didn’t have to wait until a negotiator showed up.”

“Well, that’s lucky,” Ressler said. 

The paramedic looked over Ressler and then looked up at Liz. “We’re going to need to take him in. Would you like to ride with?”

“No, I’ll be right behind,” Liz said. Liz got which hospital and was about to turn away when Ressler took her hand. “What?”

“Thank you,” was all he said before they wheeled him to the ambulance. There was a short ride to the hospital and a quick look over before they decided just on stiches. A couple hours later and he was being released, watching the sun come up as Liz drove up with her car. “Instead of coffee, breakfast?”

“Yes,” she said. “The Director called and said for me to take the day off as well. Something about keeping an eye on you.”

He chuckled. “Makes sense. I know a nice little hole in the wall we can go to.”

“Just give directions,” she said. He gave directions and they ended up at the restaurant in no time. “Nice little place.”

“Yeah – we can talk and nobody will really overhear us,” he said.

She blinked. “What?”

“I should tell you something and it’ll go down better over breakfast,” he said. “And then you can decide if you want to take me in or… or whatever you want to do, really.”

“If this is about whatever is between you and Red, I don’t really care,” she said. “Considering that you’re both adults.”

“It didn’t start recently, Liz,” he said. “It started about two months after I started chasing him.”

“Ah,” she said. “Still don’t care as it could be worse.”

He looked at her worriedly. “What is it?” 

“Tom,” she whispered. “Red was right about him.”

He sighed. “I’m sorry.”

“Did you know?” she asked. “Did you know and try to tell me in some way but I didn’t listen?”

“When we brought him in,” he said. “I tried, but I knew it wouldn’t get through. I’m here if you want to talk though.”

She nodded. “Same with me.” She was about to say something else when there was a tap on his side of the car. “And speak of the devil.”

He turned and opened the door as he saw Red. “Morning.”

“Really, Donald, you can’t go one night without being a hero?” Red asked as he looked down to the leg.

“He was going for sleeping pills,” Liz said as she got out of the car. “He followed from the hospital.”

“Right,” Ressler said and took the help from Red to get out of the car. “That and you like the breakfast enchiladas.”

“We all have to eat,” Red said with a grin. “Lizzy, would you mind getting a table for us? We’ll be right in.”

“Just make sure he’s in one piece,” Liz said and went into the restaurant.

Ressler sighed. “What, Red?”

“I don’t care what time of night it is,” Red said. “You call me. Besides, I have a lot better means than sleeping pills.”

“I wasn’t up for sex,” Ressler said.

“Sex is only one of my tools,” Red said. “And you never minded in the past. I will wait, until you feel it’s the right time, but you’re getting boring Donald. Don’t make me do something to spice up our relationship. And no, that is not a threat. I just want you to know that I’m still here, even though you seem to want to push me away at times.”

Ressler nodded. “Thank you,” he said quietly. “I just… I’ll call you next time.”

“Good,” Red said. “Because I will listen about your nightmares and your fears.”

“Would you have killed me? If things went differently with Anslo, would you have let me die?” Ressler asked. He could see shock on Red’s face, one of the few times he ever shocked the man. “I have to know, Red. I have to know just how far you would have gone. Or will go. I need to know how important I am to you, even though you’ve said it before, because one of the nightmares is you letting me die because I didn’t give the code in time. And I don’t want to die because of you. I want to die on my own terms.”

“If I have learned one thing, Donald, it is that we never die on our own terms,” Red said. “And no, I wouldn’t have. I would have been extremely angry and would have just left to let you chase me again. I would have probably calmed down after a year or two, but I’m glad that you did give the code in time. You’re both important to me and I don’t want to live without either of you.”

Ressler relaxed. “Thank you.”

“For now, we better get inside before she wonders what we’re doing,” Red said. “Did she tell you about Tom?”

“Yes,” Ressler said, starting to walk towards the restaurant while leaning on Red. “What’s the plan?”

“We’re going to let her decide the play,” Red said. “When she asks for help, we’ll give it to her. But I want you close. If she asks you to come home for dinner, then you do it. Same for anything else. He probably won’t do anything to her, as I think he does love her, but we cannot be too cautious.”

Ressler nodded. “Sounds good to me,” he said. They made their way over to where Liz was waiting for them. He smiled at seeing that there was a cup of hot coffee waiting for him. “Thanks,” he said as he slowly sat down. He moved over and Red sat down next to him. “He’s buying.”

“Happily,” Red said as he opened the menu.

Ressler and Liz smiled at that answer and settled into a smooth conversation. He was just happy for the company while he suspected that she was happy for a bit of normal in her life. He only wished that he could tell her that normal was far behind them. There was only one person they could trust on and they were sitting with him. It wasn’t enough to make him quit and work for Red full time, but it was time like these when he truly thought about it.


End file.
